PCI-GBIP Driver Compatibility Issue

[Preppie]

There is a compatibility issue I am experiencing on the GPIB setting for an Anritsu software program used to set the attenuation factors for an Anritsu 68369NV. The software has a selection of an IOTech driver 2.4 or later or a National Driver 2.1. The computer used has a National Instrument (NI) PCI-GPIB card and using the NI driver version 2.5.2. This computer’s operating system is running Windows XP. The Anritsu software program will not recognize the NI driver.

All other GPIB programs used have no issue with this version of the NI driver, so I presume the problem is with the software recognizing the NI driver. I contacted Anritsu and was told by a tech in their service department they used a computer running Windows 2000 with a PCI-GPIB using the NI driver version 2.1 with no problem. Please note the verb “used” in the last sentence. This year Anritsu stop supporting the 68XXX and 67XXXX series of signal generators, so I’m not getting much technical support with what they deem as obsolete software.

I would be grateful if anyone has any ideas on how to get this software to recognize the NI Driver Version 2.5.2. This 68369NV only needs a minor adjustment to the attenuator DAC table and this software is the interface to do it.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You posted to the LabVIEW board. Does that mean you want to write a LabVIEW program to control your instrument? You can certainly do so though I would recomend you update to the current driver. Version 2.5 is pretty old and 2.1 is ancient.

[Preppie]

Thank you for the reply. It is what it is. I realize the longevity of the current driver we are using, however as I previously stated this is for a signal generator recently drop by the Anritsu support center. The Anritsu software runs in DOS. What can I say about this legacy equipment? As far as 2.5.2., I work in an Army facility and we don't use Labview. We use primarily an Army system called CALSET and occasionally we use MAX by NI. I was under the impression that 2.5.2 was backword compatible to programs using 2.1, but this isn't the case for this software.

It was my hope someone with a greater in depth knowledge of computers could have some suggestions on how I can get a DOS program to recognize and acquire the GPIB. I'm just looking for some help from smart people. 

[Dan_N]

Hello,

The NI488.2 driver V2.5.2 does have DOS support on all OSs before Vista, so it should work in your Win XP machine with DOS software. You can verify this at the readme located here: http://download.ni.com/support/softlib/gpib/Windows/readme.html. General compatibility between NI 488.2 and different OSs can be found here: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5326

You can send GPIB commands through MAX to your device if you have NI-VISA installed, which can be downloaded for free at  http://www.ni.com/drivers/. It sounds like you only need to make a small correction, so if you know the GPIB commands or can look them up in the manual for the Anritsu device, then you can send the commands through MAX without LabVIEW. 

As a last resort, you can find the old 488.2 driver at the ni.com/drivers page linked above, and attempt to use their software with that. This is a non-ideal solution, as using the latest drivers is recommended, but it sounds like the Anritsu software is written specifically for V 2.1. 

Best,

Dan Nelson

Applications Engineer